Angry Ugly Betty Crew Members Appeal Against NYC Production Move

Furious crew members on sitcom UGLY BETTY are protesting the loss of hundreds of
jobs on the hit TV show, when production moves from Los Angeles to New York
City.

Plans to transfer the program’s production to the Big Apple were announced
on Tuesday (06May08), but 300 people who currently contribute to the making of
the program – ranging from the dry cleaners and caterers to the construction
firms – have slammed the show’s bosses for the move.

And they are making their feelings known by taking out a full-page advert in
Hollywood’s top trade paper Variety, hitting out at the shock decision, which
aims to take advantage of New York’s new tax credits for Hollywood
productions.

The disgruntled staff have all rallied together to raise the cash for the
eye-catching ad, in which they write an open letter addressed to Californian
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and other local authorities to help stop the
loss of more business.

The letter reads: “We are writing to you because we just lost our jobs. We
are the 300 plus members of the crew of the television show Ugly Betty. We were
informed this Tuesday that the production of our show is moving to New York
primarily because of the 35 per cent tax incentives being offered by the state
of New York.

“Instead of making good wages and paying our fair share of California state
income tax, we will all be collecting Unemployment Benefits. In addition, we
will certainly be cutting our spending back to the bone, which will not only
cut back our sales tax contributions substantially, but it could end up costing
the jobs of the people who provide services and products to us. Not only are
these crew positions being lost; all of our local vendors are losing our
business…

“So, while the loss of our individual positions may be insignificant, the
loss of this production is staggering. Now multiply this by all the other
productions going to New York, New Mexico, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina
and other states with incentives, not to mention Canada, New Zealand,
Australia, Eastern Europe, etc. and the cost to the California state economy is
monumental. We implore you to do everything in your power to level the playing
field and bring our jobs back to California by enacting meaningful incentives
to keep film and television production in our state.”

(MT/WNWC/IG)